Sections in this chapter

Addressing potential skill shortages in Manukau

A shortage of skills can be damaging to the growth of any community. The Manukau City Council knows that it needs to address some current skill shortages within their region and plans to ensure potential shortages do not eventuate.

The council used 2006 Census information, including data on employment, occupation, industry, and age structure, to update their career guide "Planning Your Future: A Guide to Career Opportunities in the Auckland Region". The guide looks at current industry and occupation numbers in the Auckland region, and projects what they might be in 2011 and beyond. These projections help identify what skills will be in large demand, and they also show what skills will be in short supply in the future, unless steps are taken to prevent this.

Education providers, such as the Manukau Institute of Technology, have used the career guide to request funding for the provision or strengthening of relevant courses, or as justification for dropping others.

Students can use the career guide to see what skills are projected to be in demand in the future and, from this, which courses are good vocational choices. While 2006 Census information reveals that 33,465 people in the region have business and management post-school qualifications, the guide indicates that demand for people with management skills will increase by 16,300 over the 2006–2011 period.

Addressing potential skill shortages also benefits businesses in the area, as they will be able to find new employees locally who have the skill-sets they need.

Auckland libraries service the world

New Zealand is a melting pot of ethnicities and cultures. Recent census figures confirm what the Auckland City Council already knew – that its region is becoming increasingly diverse. In Auckland City, 40 percent of people were born overseas, compared with 23 percent for New Zealand as a whole.

Local libraries have the ongoing challenge of providing services to a diverse population, with many residents who speak languages other than English. For example, 67 percent of people in Auckland City speak only one language, compared with 81 percent for all of New Zealand. Samoan is Auckland City’s second most widely spoken language behind English; nationally, Māori is New Zealand’s second most widely spoken language.

Armed with information about ethnicity, languages spoken and age group information, local libraries are better prepared to help meet the needs of the changing community. Onehunga library, for instance, has broadened its Chinese and Māori collections to better suit the local community. The library also hosts Job Search Support, where the Migrant Action Trust assists migrants seeking employment to use the free Internet access and resources provided by the library. On top of this, the self-check units customers use to take out books are now programmed with English, Māori, and two other languages spoken locally. Auckland City's libraries aim to enable people from all ethnic backgrounds, including those with English as a second language, to enjoy a well-resourced and responsive library service.

Christchurch libraries become multicultural

Although Christchurch has a fairly homogenous population in terms of ethnicity, it is becoming increasingly diverse. Between 1991 and 2006, Pacific peoples, Asian, and Middle Eastern, Latin American and African ethnic groupings have all increased as a proportion of Christchurch City's total population. The largest increase was in the Asian ethnic group, up from 2.1 percent in 1991, to 7.9 percent in 2006. Local community groups and non-government agencies are aware of these changes and want to tailor their services, such as libraries, to these changing communities.

The Christchurch City Council used 2006 Census information to create a specialised report for its city. Published in August 2007, the report covers information relating to demographics, migration, housing, age structure, occupation, and access to services such as telecommunications. It helped library staff across Christchurch to be more aware of the size and location of different ethnic and age groups. It highlighted a need for more reading resources for a number of languages. For example, since 2001 native speakers of Afrikaans have increased by 62 percent to reach 993.

Library staff have now expanded their world languages collections, which are now better able to meet the language needs of their local communities.

Trades training in South Waikato

South Waikato is dominated by small, rural towns whose residents work primarily in the dairy industry. In recent years it has become evident that there was a lack of skilled tradespeople in the district.

The South Waikato District Council reviewed 2006 Census information on occupation, industry, and highest post-school qualification, combined with local information about educational courses available and job vacancies.

At the time of the 2006 Census, 7.2 percent of people aged 15 years and over in the district had a level 5 or 6 diploma, compared with a national average of 9.5 percent.

Information gathered by the council revealed that although there was a good supply of professionals, there was a shortage of people with trade qualifications or employed in trade occupations. The council determined that local educational institutions needed to offer courses to meet the gaps in the local employment market.

The Tokoroa campus of the Waiariki Institute of Technology introduced extra trade courses including engineering, carpentry, and fitting and turning, with the potential to add dairy industry related programmes later. The feedback from students has been excellent, with high retention rates for the courses.

Students in the South Waikato have benefited from a wider variety of courses at their local campus, and the region hopes to benefit long term through an increase in skilled tradespeople.